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Seared Duck Breast with Rosemary Cherry Sauce

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Seared Duck Breast with Rosemary Cherry Sauce

Seared Duck Breast with Rosemary Cherry Sauce

OHHHH it’s finally fall…I fight the transition, I really do; not QUITE ready to let those lazy summer days go but then bounty kicks in, harvest keeps me busy and from one day to the next I am full on into it, FULL ON and then as the days get shorter and the air crisper I dream of making all those fall comfy foods that make us all happy….

Okay enough about transition because we have seared duck breasts to chat about today! Yep duck breasts. You might have thought I was leading into some more comfy type foods (I have all fall and winter to do that)…besides I have a party this weekend and I need to do some WOWING (is that a word?)

Anyway, not only does seared duck breasts sound really like a sexy and fancy main dish, I plan on serving a delicious rosemary cherry sauce to serve on top. Seriously, I think we all know that duck and cherries are like two peas in a pod, they just make each other super happy.

Seared Duck Breast with Rosemary Cherry Sauce

The most difficult part of this recipe is that you have to “score” the skin of the duck breast. I don’t mean rate it like in a literally score but have to cut a crisscross pattern into the skin (Please don’t cut the meat at all) so that the fat near the skin can render and become super yummy crispy!

As for the fancy cherry sauce, it is super simple too and if you don’t have access to fresh cherries (it’s sorta past season in fall unless you are a nut case like me and have some that have been canned) just use frozen, they are a super substitute.

So back to the duck breasts. After you score them, season with salt and pepper and put in a nicely heated cast iron skillet (if you have one) with the butter and sear away (leave it until there is a nice browned skin and super crispy). When you turn them over, turn it down to medium and finish up.

Now the magic rosemary cherry sauce! You will use the same skillet cuz there is some yummo goodness in that pan. There are only 4 ingredients (seriously good 4 ingredients) and they all cook together, reduce, and create a tart-sweet sauce to drizzle or drench (your total preference) over the duck breast.

The last tidbit of info to make your guests think you are over the top awesome is to thinly slice the duck breast, fan them onto a pretty plate and put the cherry sauce over the top and whoa la…there is nothing more to say!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Seared Duck Breast with Rosemary Cherry Sauce
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 4 duck breasts
  • 4 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 cup halved pitted sweet red cherries, fresh or frozen, thawed
  • ¼ cup good red wine
  • 4 T tablespoons honey
  • 2 T chopped rosemary
Instructions
  1. Take the duck breasts and using sharp knife, score skin in ¾-inch diamond pattern (do not cut into flesh).
  2. Melt 2 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle duck with salt and pepper. Add duck, skin side down, to skillet and cook until skin is browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Turn duck breasts over, reduce heat to medium, and cook until browned and cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes longer for small breasts and 8 minutes longer for large breast for medium-rare. Transfer to work surface, tent with foil to keep warm, and let rest 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, pour off all but 2 tablespoons drippings from skillet. Add cherries, wine, rosemary and honey. Increase heat to high and boil until sauce is reduced to glaze, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Whisk in 1 tablespoon cold butter. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Thinly slice duck. Fan slices out on plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.

Seared Duck Breast with Rosemary Cherry Sauce

 

Crispy “Duck Confit” Legs

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Duck-Confit

Duck-Confit

I know I have written about duck confit and my tales of where my obsession began but this version has a slight “twist”, which I believe fills a completely different side of my culinary craze…

So, why mess with perfection? Why, Why, Why…..well, because that’s what I love to do……PERFECT PERFECTION…..don’t we all? Probably not sooooo, just call me crazy….

Anyway, Enrique LOVES duck legs, I mean he loves them and one weekend upon a request I decided to venture off, not to be defiant but because I was really was craving something a little more “crunchy and crispy” and my “go to” tender duck confit just wasn’t what the palate was ordering, so I began researching to be inspired by a new idea.

During my perusing, I came across a lot of roasted duck recipes but that wasn’t what I was yearning for BUT I did LOVE the idea of the crispy skin and moist and tender meat. Then, I remembered a restaurant we frequented in Santa Fe which seasonally offered crispy duck legs. OMG this was going to be my new creation, crispy “duck confit” legs….perfect!

Off I went to grab my duck legs and the simple curing ingredients and put them up for 24-hours. The next day I took out my favorite cast-iron skillet and seared the fat side of the duck until a gorgeous golden brown crust appeared, I then added some of my trusted, reserved duck fat to the pan, to help create a little “poaching” during first hour of cooking, covered them, and put them in the oven.

Nothing goes better than potatoes with duck and I still had some of the precious liquid so, I “smashed” some little red potatoes and added them to a pan and fried away until golden on each side, what a beautiful site! All they needed was a little salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. This was going to be delicious!

Off came the foil for the last 45 minutes of my crispy “duck confit” leg adventure and the smell that infiltrated the kitchen was heaven! I was so excited for Enrique to sample my latest adventure, I could hardly wait those last minutes.

I finished the plate off with some fresh green beans, quickly fried with sliced garlic. (Sounds like duck fat is the main course here but I promise it is simply for flavor and a little technique).

I didn’t even have to create a fancy plate, the colors and smells were enough to compensate for any amature styling. We dove into the duck legs first and didn’t speak for what seemed like eternity and then we looked up and over at each other and smiled with our lips glistening with the glorious liquid gold….

Duck-Confit

5.0 from 1 reviews
Crispy "Duck Confit" Legs
 
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This NOT a traditional duck confit so, I won't call it that and instead I will call it crispy duck confit legs! These can be done, anyway of the week and are simply delicious!
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • ½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf, crumbled
  • 8 moulard duck legs (about 4 pounds total), rinsed and patted dry but not trimmed
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf pieces. Sprinkle duck generously with mixture. Place duck legs in a pan in one layer. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. Note: Moulard duck legs can vary in size -- if yours are closer to 1 lb. each, instead of ½ lb., add an extra 6-12 hours to the curing time if possible, and increase the spice mix proportionally by weight. The next day, heat oven to 325 degrees. Place duck legs, fat side down, in a large ovenproof skillet, with legs fitting snugly in a single layer (you may have to use two skillets or cook them in batches). Heat duck legs over medium heat until fat starts to render. When there is about ¼ inch of rendered fat in pan, about 20 minutes, flip duck legs, add some olive oil to pan OR duck fat, if you have, cover pan with foil, and place it in oven. If you have used two pans, transfer duck and fat to a roasting pan, cover with foil and place in oven. Roast legs for 1 hours, then remove foil and continue roasting until duck is golden brown, about 40-45 minutes more. Remove duck from fat; reserve fat for other uses. Serve duck hot or warm, over roasted potatoes

 

Duck Confit

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Duck marinated and cooked in its own fat in a low oven for 14 hours, falling off the bone and dense with flavor, doesn’t this just sound so unappetizing? I mean really and then served over homemade cavatelli or pappardelle pasta accompanied by a scrumptious glass of brunello? Or perhaps mixed with sautéed wild mushrooms over caramelized shallot potato au gratin and a glass of burgundy……ahhh the endless possibilities of torture.

It was in the Normandy area of France where I was introduced to this legendary fowl. Never before was I drawn toward this delicacy, I don’t really know why. Maybe it was because I really never had it growing up or perhaps it has come into fashion more in recent years or maybe I just didn’t want too. I don’t know but what I do know and will never forget is the story of our first encounter.

We had just arrived from the U.S in Paris, 14 hours of flight time and little sleep only to hop into our rented car and head west toward our destination. Thank GOD the adrenaline of the beginning of vacation overrides any sense of exhaustion otherwise we would have collapsed in Charles de Gaulle airport walkway and woke up 3 days later into our blissful getaway…

Getting out of the city and onto the back roads is always our favorite pathway, especially in Europe. It is such an amazing experience and the scenery is mesmerizing.

It was a winding road through a small village and I, the co-pilot, was navigating the way attempting to find a short cut to our magical destination, a 14th century priory converted to a bed and breakfast by a retired Parisian couple. I couldn’t wait arrive!!

As I studied the photo of the property dotted with stone buildings built by artisan masons and the vast area filled with flower gardens and lily ponds, I fantasized about the mornings where we would feast on warm croissants with homemade butter and strawberry jam accompanied with a café au lait when suddenly I was jolted out of my dream-like state by my wonderful other half who had spotted a white rectangle object along side the road and decided as we are passing at 50 MPH to hang a U-turn and investigate.

Before I could ask “what the….?” we had jumped out of the car to discover the front of the rectangle box was actually a mobile butcher shop. We gasped like children in a penny candy store and oohed and awed at the fresh selections. There was rabbit, pheasant, duck, and local cheeses…..As we scanned down the row pointing, giggling, and drooling, you would have thought we were shopping at Hermes on the Champs Elysees, we both suddenly stopped, held our breath, and shouted a victory scream! There is was…..8 choices of FRESH PATE, handmade by the maestro himself! OMG, how do we choose? We decided no one in their right mind should EVER have to choose so, we didn’t and bought all 8! If we can’t eat it all, we could always bathe in it or use it as lotion. I mean, how bad can that be, smelling like fresh duck pate all day? I can think of worse things.

So you can take your imagination from here and fill in the blanks with guessing how many boulangerie’s were woven into the vacation for the purchase of the scrupmtous fresh baguettes as well as the sampling of several bottles of wine in order to discover the perfect combination, After all, we owed it to the legendary 8.

Ever since that roadside wonder, I have been obsessed with duck prepared in a number of ways. This is one of my all time favorites and a go to when I just need to return to that rectangle box.

Duck Confit
 
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What’s NOT TO LOVE about duck confit? Here is an EASY recipe to make this delicacy at home. Honestly, the hardest thing about this recipe is the time it takes to marinate and then cook. Just plan accordingly and I promise, you won’t be disappointed!
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: French
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 4 duck leg portions with thighs attached, (about 2 pounds) excess fat trimmed and reserved
  • 1 tablespoon plus ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 10 garlic cloves
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • ½ teaspoon table salt
  • 4 cups olive oil
  • 1 lb shitake mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 6 garlic cloved, diced
  • 5 sliced of pancetta, diced thin
  • 1 bag of spinach
  • Chicken Broth
  • Duck Fat
Instructions
  1. For the Duck Confit (Prep day ahead)
  2. Lay the leg portions on a platter, skin side down. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the kosher salt and the black pepper. Place the garlic cloves, bay leaves, and sprigs of thyme on each of 2 leg portions. Lay the remaining 2 leg portions, flesh to flesh, on top. Put the reserved fat from the ducks in the bottom of a glass or plastic container. Top with the sandwiched leg portions. Sprinkle with the remaining ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt. Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
  4. Remove the duck from the refrigerator. Remove the garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and duck fat and reserve. Rinse the duck with cool water, rubbing off some of the salt and pepper. Pat dry with paper towels.
  5. Put the reserved garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and duck fat in the bottom of an enameled cast iron pot. Sprinkle evenly with the peppercorns and table salt. Lay the duck on top, skin side down. Add the olive oil. Cover and bake for 12 to 14 hours, or until the meat pulls away from the bone.
  6. Remove the duck from the fat. Strain the fat and reserve. To store the duck confit, place the duck leg portions in a container, cover with the reserved cooking fat, and store in the refrigerator. Alternately, pick the meat from the bones and place it in a stoneware container. Cover the meat with a thin layer of some of the strained fat. The duck confit can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
  7. The excess oil can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and used like butter for cooking. The tinge of duck taste in the oil is wonderful.
  8. To Make the Sauce:
  9. Heat 3 T of the duck fat in a skillet on stovetop. Add shallot and cook until caramelized. Add pancetta, cook for 3-4 min and add garlic, cook 1 min. Add 3 T more duck fat and add mushrooms. Cook until softened and add ½ cup chicken broth. Toss in Spinach and wilt. Add ½ cup chicken and 3 T more duck fat. Salt and pepper to taste. Note - Depending on what you are making this for, may want to add more liquid, chicken broth or duck fat, your choice!